Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades.

³Within these lay a large number of the disabled — blind, lame, and paralyzed.

⁴

⁵One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.

⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷“Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

⁸“Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.”

⁹Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath,

¹⁰and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.”

¹¹He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹²“Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked.

¹³But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”

¹⁵The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹⁶Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

¹⁷Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.”

¹⁸This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

¹⁹Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things.

²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.

²¹And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.

²²The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,

²³so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

²⁴“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

²⁵“Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

²⁶For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself.

²⁷And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice

²⁹and come out — those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

³⁰“I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

³¹“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

³²There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.

³³You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.

³⁴I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

³⁵John was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

³⁶“But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me.

³⁷The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.

³⁸You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent.

³⁹You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.

⁴⁰But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

⁴¹“I do not accept glory from people,

⁴²but I know you — that you have no love for God within you.

⁴³I have come in my Father’s name, and yet you don’t accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

⁴⁴How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me.

⁴⁷But if you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?”

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea.

³Pharaoh will say of the Israelites: They are wandering around the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.

⁴I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So the Israelites did this.

⁵When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said: “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”

⁶So he got his chariot ready and took his troops with him;

⁷he took six hundred of the best chariots and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in each one.

⁸The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out defiantly.

⁹The Egyptians — all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army — chased after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the LORD for help.

¹¹They said to Moses: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

¹²Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

¹³But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the LORD’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.

¹⁴The LORD will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”

¹⁵The LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp.

¹⁶As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

¹⁷As for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen.

¹⁸The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

¹⁹Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them.

²⁰It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long.

²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided,

²²and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.

²³The Egyptians set out in pursuit — all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen — and went into the sea after them.

²⁴During the morning watch, the LORD looked down at the Egyptian forces from the pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian forces into confusion.

²⁵He caused their chariot wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty. “Let’s get away from Israel,” the Egyptians said, “because the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”

²⁶Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water may come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and horsemen.”

²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal depth. While the Egyptians were trying to escape from it, the LORD threw them into the sea.

²⁸The water came back and covered the chariots and horsemen, plus the entire army of Pharaoh that had gone after them into the sea. Not even one of them survived.

²⁹But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.

³⁰That day the LORD saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

³¹When Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

¹Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother:

²To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord — both their Lord and ours.

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus,

⁵that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge.

⁶In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you,

⁷so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.

¹¹For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you.

¹²What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.”

¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

¹⁵so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

¹⁶I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else.

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.

¹⁸For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.

¹⁹For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.

²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish?

²¹For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.

²²For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom,

²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

²⁴Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,

²⁵because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.

²⁷Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

²⁸God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world  — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something,

²⁹so that no one may boast in his presence.

³⁰It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us — our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,

³¹in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

¹And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten crowns, and on its heads were blasphemous names.

²The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.

³One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.

⁴They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against it?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth to utter boasts and blasphemies. It was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.

⁶It began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme his name and his dwelling — those who dwell in heaven.

⁷And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation.

⁸All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

⁹If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.

¹⁰If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he goes. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed. This calls for endurance and faithfulness from the saints.

¹¹Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.

¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.

¹³It also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.

¹⁴It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁵It was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

¹⁶And it makes everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,

¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.

¹After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.

²He said:

³May the day I was born perish, and the night that said, “A boy is conceived.”

⁴If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it.

⁵May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it. May what darkens the day terrify it.

⁶If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year or be listed in the calendar.

⁷Yes, may that night be barren; may no joyful shout be heard in it.

⁸Let those who curse days condemn it, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

⁹May its morning stars grow dark. May it wait for daylight but have none; may it not see the breaking of dawn.

¹⁰For that night did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, and hide sorrow from my eyes.

¹¹Why was I not stillborn; why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

¹²Why did the knees receive me, and why were there breasts for me to nurse?

¹³Now I would certainly be lying down in peace; I would be asleep. Then I would be at rest

¹⁴with the kings and counselors of the earth, who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,

¹⁵or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child, like infants who never see daylight?

¹⁷There the wicked cease to make trouble, and there the weary find rest.

¹⁸The captives are completely at rest; they do not hear a taskmaster’s voice.

¹⁹Both small and great are there, and the slave is set free from his master.

²⁰Why is light given to one burdened with grief, and life to those whose existence is bitter,

²¹who wait for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²²who are filled with much joy and are glad when they reach the grave?

²³Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

²⁴I sigh when food is put before me, and my groans pour out like water.

²⁵For the thing I feared has overtaken me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶I cannot relax or be calm; I have no rest, for turmoil has come.

¹A psalm of David. [1] I will sing of faithful love and justice; I will sing praise to you, LORD.

²I will pay attention to the way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.

³I will not let anything worthless guide me. I hate the practice of transgression; it will not cling to me.

⁴A devious heart will be far from me; I will not be involved with evil.

⁵I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor; I cannot tolerate anyone with haughty eyes or an arrogant heart.

⁶My eyes favor the faithful of the land so that they may sit down with me. The one who follows the way of integrity may serve me.

⁷No one who acts deceitfully will live in my palace; the one who tells lies will not be retained here to guide me.

⁸Every morning I will destroy all the wicked of the land, wiping out all evildoers from the LORD’s city.

¹My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;

²for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

³Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Then you will find favor and high regard with God and people.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;

⁶in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.

⁷Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

⁸This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest;

¹⁰then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

¹¹Do not despise the LORD’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline;

¹²for the LORD disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

¹³Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than jewels; nothing you desire can equal her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left, riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths, peaceful.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who hold on to her are happy.

¹⁹The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.

²⁰By his knowledge the watery depths broke open, and the clouds dripped with dew.

²¹Maintain sound wisdom and discretion. My son, don’t lose sight of them.

²²They will be life for you and adornment for your neck.

²³Then you will go safely on your way; your foot will not stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid; you will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.

²⁵Don’t fear sudden danger or the ruin of the wicked when it comes,

²⁶for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from a snare.

²⁷When it is in your power, don’t withhold good from the one to whom it belongs.

²⁸Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow” — when it is there with you.

²⁹Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you.

³⁰Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm.

³¹Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;

³²for the devious are detestable to the LORD, but he is a friend to the upright.

³³The LORD’s curse is on the household of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous;

³⁴He mocks those who mock, but gives grace to the humble.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but he holds up fools to dishonor.

¹Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there.

²The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.”

³Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land.”

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from.

⁵At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!”

⁶But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof.

⁷The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut.

⁸Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof

⁹and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.

¹⁰For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed across the Jordan.

¹¹When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.

¹²Now please swear to me by the LORD that you will also show kindness to my father’s family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

¹³that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.”

¹⁴The men answered her, “We will give our lives for yours. If you don’t report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the LORD gives us the land.”

¹⁵Then she let them down by a rope through the window, since she lived in a house that was built into the wall of the city.

¹⁶“Go to the hill country so that the men pursuing you won’t find you,” she said to them. “Hide there for three days until they return; afterward, go on your way.”

¹⁷The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear,

¹⁸unless, when we enter the land, you tie this scarlet cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house.

¹⁹If anyone goes out the doors of your house, his death will be his own fault, and we will be innocent. But if anyone with you in the house should be harmed, his death will be our fault.

²⁰And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

²¹“Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window.

²²So the two men went into the hill country and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. They searched all along the way, but did not find them.

²³Then the men returned, came down from the hill country, and crossed the Jordan. They went to Joshua son of Nun and reported everything that had happened to them.

²⁴They told Joshua, “The LORD has handed over the entire land to us. Everyone who lives in the land is also panicking because of us.”

¹The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.

²Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

³The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know; my people do not understand.”

⁴Oh sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, brood of evildoers, depraved children! They have abandoned the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel; they have turned their backs on him.

⁵Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep on rebelling? The whole head is hurt, and the whole heart is sick.

⁶From the sole of the foot even to the head, no spot is uninjured  — wounds, welts, and festering sores not cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil.

⁷Your land is desolate, your cities burned down; foreigners devour your fields right in front of you — a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.

⁸Daughter Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

⁹If the LORD of Armies had not left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would resemble Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹“What are all your sacrifices to me?” asks the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.

¹²When you come to appear before me, who requires this from you — this trampling of my courts?

¹³Stop bringing useless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies  — I cannot stand iniquity with a festival.

¹⁴I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to me; I am tired of putting up with them.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.

¹⁶“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil.

¹⁷Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸“Come, let us settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.

²⁰But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

²¹The faithful town — what an adulteress she has become! She was once full of justice. Righteousness once dwelt in her, but now, murderers!

²²Your silver has become dross to be discarded, your beer is diluted with water.

²³Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love graft and chase after bribes. They do not defend the rights of the fatherless, and the widow’s case never comes before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord GOD of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah, I will get even with my foes; I will take revenge against my enemies.

²⁵I will turn my hand against you and will burn away your dross completely; I will remove all your impurities.

²⁶I will restore your judges to what they were at first, and your advisers to what they were at the start. Afterward you will be called the Righteous City, a Faithful Town.”

²⁷Zion will be redeemed by justice, those who repent, by righteousness.

²⁸At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken, and those who abandon the LORD will perish.

²⁹Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you desired, and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines you have chosen.

³⁰For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, and like a garden without water.

³¹The strong one will become tinder, and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to extinguish the flames.

¹When it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Imperial Regiment.

²When we had boarded a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, intending to sail to ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

³The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care.

⁴When we had put out to sea from there, we sailed along the northern coast of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

⁵After sailing through the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.

⁷Sailing slowly for many days, with difficulty we arrived off Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to approach it, we sailed along the south side of Crete off Salmone.

⁸With still more difficulty we sailed along the coast and came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lasea.

⁹By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous. Since the Day of Atonement was already over, Paul gave his advice

¹⁰and told them, “Men, I can see that this voyage is headed toward disaster and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said.

¹²Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to set sail from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor on Crete facing the southwest and northwest, and to winter there.

¹³When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought they had achieved their purpose. They weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

¹⁴But before long, a fierce wind called the “northeaster” rushed down from the island.

¹⁵Since the ship was caught and unable to head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

¹⁶After running under the shelter of a little island called Cauda, we were barely able to get control of the skiff.

¹⁷After hoisting it up, they used ropes and tackle and girded the ship. Fearing they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the drift-anchor, and in this way they were driven along.

¹⁸Because we were being severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo the next day.

¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging. Finally all hope was fading that we would be saved.

²¹Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss.

²²Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship.

²³For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me

²⁴and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me.

²⁶But we have to run aground on some island.”

²⁷When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and about midnight the sailors thought they were approaching land.

²⁸They took soundings and found it to be a hundred and twenty feet deep; when they had sailed a little farther and sounded again, they found it to be ninety feet deep.

²⁹Then, fearing we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come.

³⁰Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow.

³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”

³²Then the soldiers cut the ropes holding the skiff and let it drop away.

³³When it was about daylight, Paul urged them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, having eaten nothing.

³⁴So I urge you to take some food. For this is for your survival, since none of you will lose a hair from your head.”

³⁵After he said these things and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all of them, and after he broke it, he began to eat.

³⁶They all were encouraged and took food themselves.

³⁷In all there were 276 of us on the ship.

³⁸When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the grain overboard into the sea.

³⁹When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could.

⁴⁰After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach.

⁴¹But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow jammed fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up by the pounding of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim away and escape.

⁴³But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul, and so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

⁴⁴The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore.